As I write this on Tuesday night, the day before the NBA draft, there was a chance the youngest Ball brother, LaMelo, may be a Charlotte Hornet.

Tom Brady

The Hornets possess the third pick of the draft and there is a chance that Ball fell to the third pick. Ball is the younger brother of Lonzo Ball of the New Orleans Pelicans. He is also the son of LaVar Ball, the outspoken and controversial father who has a reputation for meddling in his son’s playing careers. Yes, the same Lavar Ball who once said that in his heyday he “would kill” Michael Jordan one-on-one. And who later said his oldest son, Lonzo, was better than Stephen Curry, a two-time MVP NBA, when Lonzo was a freshman at UCLA. And long before enrolling his son at Spire Institute, predicted all three of his sons — Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo — would be playing for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. That LaVar Ball. If Ball ended up with the Hornets, the relationship between owner Michael Jordan and Father Ball would be interesting to say the least.

Back to LaMelo. Many draft experts say that at the age of 19, Ball has matured into a 6-7, 190-pound point guard. He has moved up the draft board at a rapid pace and is now projected to be a top-three pick.

Back to Jordan. Questions have been asked by draft experts if Jordan would want to deal with Ball’s father. My first thought on that is that we see and hear less of LaVar than three or four years ago.

LaMelo

Actually, the brothers have found their own path for the most part, choosing their representation and signing apparel deals. LaMelo signed a shoe deal with Puma, which seemed to upset LaVar in a recent episode of “Ball in the Family.” Yes, the family has a reality show.

Panthers Fall To Tampa

Remember a week or so ago, when the Buccaneers scored just three points, rushed just five times for eight yards, and Tom Brady threw three interceptions?

Apparently, all the Bucs needed was to see the Carolina Panthers defense. Tampa Bay enjoyed seeing the Panthers as it put 46 points on the scoreboard enroute to a 46-23 victory.

Brady answered the critics again by completing 28-of-39 passes for 341 yards and three touchdowns. The Bucs also got a 98 yard touchdown run from Ronald Jones.

Carolina will head into this week’s home game against the Detroit Lions with a 3-7 record. The Panthers have dropped four consecutive games and what started as a potentially surprising season is starting to unravel.